What software do law firms use to manage their cases?

Q&A • Legal software

What software do law firms use to manage their cases?

Law firms use legal practice management software that keeps cases, court deadlines, billable hours and fees in one place. Below you see which features matter and how to choose.

Short answer

  1. Firms use a legal practice management platform with a centralized case register.
  2. The platform keeps the cases, parties, documents and correspondence tied to each matter.
  3. The court-deadline calendar shows in-app alerts before each hearing.
  4. Hourly time tracking (timesheet) is the basis of the fee invoice.
  5. With 4lawyers the subscription is billed per firm, not per lawyer, and starts at $1 a month.

Which features to ask for

  • A case register with parties, courts, file number and procedural stage.
  • A shared court-deadline calendar with alerts for the team.
  • Time tracking by hours and activities, tied to the case, for fee billing.
  • Documents attached directly to the case, not scattered across emails.

What the law says (briefly)

  • The lawyer is bound by professional secrecy (Law no. 51/1995, art. 11).
  • Client data is processed on a legal basis and protected under GDPR.
  • Case documents are kept for the periods required by the profession's statute.

Practical example

Example: a law firm with 3 lawyers manages 120 active cases. Each case has its parties, court and attached documents; deadlines show up in the shared calendar, and worked hours are logged per case and billed at month-end. Deadlines are visible to the whole team, and the fee invoice starts from hours already logged.

Common mistakes

  • Keeping cases in separate folders and spreadsheets, with no single register and no history.
  • Writing court deadlines in a paper diary, with no automatic alerts.
  • Estimating worked hours from memory instead of logging them per case in real time.

How 4lawyers helps

  • A centralized case register, with parties, courts, documents and procedural stage.
  • A court-deadline calendar with in-app alerts and portal.just.ro sync (Romanian courts only).
  • Per-case hourly tracking, invoiced as fees through 4invoices.

See also